So what’s the more important plot point? The return of Kaname? Or is it Miuna’s apparent acquisition of ena? Let’s see what this week led to.

Another Son Returns

Grilling Kaname

Kaname’s returned, but the reaction is a little different from Hikari’s. That’s to be expected for the second person to come back. But for Kaname at least as much has changed as it has for Hikari, so is it better to be left more alone to deal with it? Or to have more people around to try to help? Either way, the show doesn’t really focus on Kaname, except for one scene where he is a new arrival to stay at Tsumugu’s house with Tsumugu and Chisaki, who really put on an old married couple performance of kitchen synchronization. Certainly Kaname’s going to feel like he’s missed some chance, with Chisaki so close to Tsumugu, but we haven’t really found out what Chisaki’s true feelings are, besides that she seems to still have a crush on Hikari.

Is there room for Kaname?

Instead, the show focuses more on Miuna and Sayu. Sayu in particular is struggling with Kaname’s return, of course, because she comes to realize that her crush that she’s held onto for five years is kinda silly, and things are going to change. It doesn’t help that Kaname doesn’t recognize her right away, hitting her pretty hard in her self-confidence. But of course she’s not going to, and when Kaname makes a special point to say hello to her and pat her head, the way he’s always done, she’s overcome a bit. It was good that she didn’t make any resolution about “I’m not going to be interested in Kaname anymore”, more that it was kind of “I thought things would never change, but now I realize that they will no matter what I think.”

Surprise head pats

Can They Finally Return To Shioshishio?

Planning meeting

With Kaname’s return and Miuna’s experience where she gained her ena, something that’s now been confirmed to be thin but present, now Tsumugu and his scientist mentor think there might be a current that would get them to Shioshishio. Miuna volunteers, but should she? I personally thought it was fine if she volunteered, even if she’s the least experienced person with ena ever. She even practiced, to get rid of the fear I had that she’d instantly freeze up and drown as soon as she jumped in.

Can I blame Hikari not hearing it on how loud he is?

It was kind of funny to watch Miuna carefully get in the water after Hikari and Kaname had just jumped straight in. But she was able to hear the current, and how could the other two not hear it? Is it just girl power? Or they need to have her there for some reason? It would be hard to believe that her hearing underwater is better, given that she has no experience. It’s not really the kind of show that’s going to put Miuna in a lot of danger, even if they’ve talked about how it might be dangerous, so I’m not expecting something awful to happen when they get into Shioshishio. But there will be something that happens, I’m sure.

There was some interesting sakuga animation in this episode. The jarring one was being Kaname’s eyes following the seagull as it flew past the three broken columns, symbols of Kaname’s 5 years of sleep. It was an interesting perspective, in that we usually don’t track what someone’s looking like that in anime, instead seeing a still background and objects moving across them. Very well done.

As far as the story, it’s just progressing along. One thing I am starting to really appreciate about Nagi no Asukara is that it doesn’t go in for big shockers. And while some accuse Mari Okada of being melodramatic, I don’t think this show has really gone there. Instead, it’s just mostly followed along with life in a world that’s not really the same as our own.

5 Responses to “Nagi no Asukara – 17”

Kaname continues to be the cool cat despite not getting the girl he wanted. I mean, Hikari was freaking out and everything but either the show failed to show the emotions or he was just f-ing cool that he just takes everything much better than Hikari did.

Kaname’s always dealt with things better than Hikari. He’s also always been the underdog. Of course, before, he didn’t have to fight both Hikari *and* Tsumugu for Chisaki’s attention, and now he’s definitely a 5th wheel. How he’ll react to having even less chance will be a question as we move toward the end.

Kaname’s return was alright but I’m more interested in Miuna getting her Ena after so many years. My guess is half breeds like her have to wait a certain age to get it while the pure sea species get it from birth.

Though Kaname gets points for keeping a level head. With such an overwhelming change, you’d expect someone to have a breakdown knowing what’s happened while they were out of the picture but usual, he keeps his personal feeling bottled up. Three out of four friends are back together but I get the feeling Manaka is somewhere else entirely.

I’m more likely to think that it’s a new event, since presumably some of the people who were of mixed heritage before have gotten in the water at some point. I think there’s something special about the time that Miuna was in the water that caused it, compared to before.

I really don’t see Manaka coming back. I could be completely wrong, but all indications really point to this being the steady state of the show. I don’t even know if the rest of Shioshishio is going to wake up, I think that because Hikari and Kaname were, essentially, late arrivals and not really with everyone else, they’ve been cast loose.